The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued an apology for a memorable and stark prediction made in its 2007 report. It said then that the chances of Himalayan glaciers "disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high". The apology admits that the prediction was "poorly substantiated." It did, however, make for great propaganda.

Dr. Murari Lal was responsible for the Asia section of the 2007 report. Lal now says said that he was aware the claim did not rest on peer-reviewed scientific research. However, he admits it was included to put political pressure on world leaders. It was also highlighted in Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, where it was pointed out that the glaciers feed seven rivers that in turn give water to 40 per cent of the world' population.

Now, the Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. has exposed the flimsy basis for the prediction as well as how many research dollars came from it.

Last week, the IPCC, led by its increasingly controversial chairman, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, was forced to issue an unprecedented admission: the statement in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 had no scientific basis, and its inclusion in the report reflected a "poor application" of IPCC procedures.

What has now come to light, however, is that the scientist from whom this claim originated, Dr Syed Hasnain, has for the past two years been working as a senior employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the Delhi-based company of which Dr Pachauri is director-general. Furthermore, the claim – now disowned by Dr Pachauri as chairman of the IPCC – has helped TERI to win a substantial share of a $500,000 grant from one of America's leading charities, along with a share in a three million euro research study funded by the EU.

With all the scandals over the past few months, one wonders what other skeletons still hide in in the climate change closet. T/h SmallDeadAnimals.com.